By Amanda Pizzolatto, (alias Aurora Mandeville)

Word Count: 2253

Rating: G

Summary: The story of Scheherazade’s rendezvous with a genie friend

She walked gracefully under the canopy of dark needles, the only thing moving in an otherworldly stillness. She glanced all around. There was a good reason why this wood was called Black Forest. It was not just a reference to the Black Forest on Earth, where a portal lay connecting the two worlds, but also because of the color of the trees themselves. The bark was like ebony while the treetops were reminiscent of dark pine. Between each tree sat a snowberry bush and a shimmering pool. She knew both trees and bushes drank heavily from the pools, but no other living thing could. It looked, felt, and probably tasted like water, but it most certainly wasn’t. That sheen on the water would make anyone pause, or, at least it should. She had heard of a couple of tales of somebody drinking from the pools, and were never heard from again. She glanced down at a pool as she passed it. The force of her passing caused a ripple on the surface. But the way that ripple moved made the pool almost seem like it was alive rather than being pushed on by an outside force. She shivered slightly at the thought before tearing her eyes away from the pool and going back to searching for the person she was meeting. She passed a couple more pools before she found him, leaning against a tree that was a distance from any of the pools. She let out a sigh of relief she hadn’t realized she had been holding. The sound of it caused him to raise his head and glance at her. Though a smile appeared on his face, his blue eyes showed the sorrow he had to have been feeling. Her heart went out to him as she quickly approached him.

“Matthew, you’re alright! And, I’m so sorry to hear about your sister.”

Matthew took her hand and kissed it. “I’m glad to hear at least one other person is happy for my safety. And, thank you, Scheherazade, though I am glad that she isn’t . . .” He paused as his sad eyes wandered over the pools.

“I’m sorry about your parents too.”

Matthew glanced at her with a soft smirk. “But you already told me that.”

Scheherazade smiled softly. “It’s why I didn’t start with it. Besides, we already knew what happened to your parents. We were still in anxious wait for word of your sister. And to hear that … is it not still a sorry fate for a genie?”

“A lamp is better than . . .”

Scheherazade nodded as he gave a quick glance to the pools. “Of course, there is still the chance that she may be freed by her master.”

Matthew sighed as he sat on the ground. “I don’t think that will be possible for these five, not this time.”

Scheherazade sat down next to him. “Why? What did you find out? What did Jason do?”

“I don’t know what Jason did, or said. He didn’t do it. My father did it, before he was destroyed.”

Scheherazade gasped. “What? Your father? Why would he do such a thing?”

“To protect them, why else?”

“But . . . that means . . .”

“I’m the king of the genies, the last king of the genies.”

“But, if Jason destroys you . . .”

“All genies, except for those five, will be nothing but pools of ether,” said Matthew. He glanced at the pools again. “And will be completely wiped from memory.” He glanced back at her with a sigh. “Saying it now, it finally seems real, that it can happen.”

Scheherazade stood up and placed her hands on her hips with a defiant look. “We can’t let that happen, we mustn’t, we won’t. You can count on the fofi* to be your allies.”

Matthew stood and shook her hand. “Thank you, I’m glad of it. So, I should tell you.”

Scheherazade blinked. “Tell me what?”  

Matthew walked to a pool and waved his hand over it. “While I was on Oruzy, I foresaw some of the future and what would happen if the lamps, my sister’s in particular, were to fall into the wrong hands. So I created an order of warriors to protect them. But I also wanted them to be more than just warriors, so I chose a select group of women to do the job.” He waved his hand again, and a picture of five women appeared, each woman wearing a dress with a breastplate, a sword, and throwing daggers on their belts. “One from each race.” Scheherazade nodded as she glanced at the five. The human was easy to find, she looked like any other Indian woman. It was just a little harder to pick out the others. Scheherazade always got them mixed up.

Matthew seemed to know her dilemma as he chuckled. “I can tell you which one is which.”

Scheherazade smiled sheepishly at him. “Please? Trying to memorize all the races can be a bit daunting.”

Matthew smiled. “No kidding. I hope you’ll remember them for sure when you meet them, because you do have to act differently around each one.”

“I know that, just figuring out which one is which.”

Matthew chuckled. “I see. Here, this is the Apsara.” A blue light encircled the second woman. She looked like a Thai woman, but she had sapphires in her hair, her long nails looked like they were made of sapphires, and her eyes were as blue as the stones in her hair. Her ears were slightly pointed, and she appeared to be a very graceful warrior.

“The Vidyadhara.” A blue light encircled the fourth woman. Her face looked Nepali with a beaked nose and parrot-like eyes, her red, blue, and green hair looked like feathers, her knee-length skirt revealed the same colored feathers on her legs, her bare feet had only three toes per foot, and she looked to be flying.

“The Diwata.” The third woman was illuminated. She had golden skin, ridged ears and nose, red eyes, dark brown hair up in a bun, and looked more muscular than the others. She had her right hand on the hilt of her sword and a fierce look on her face.

“And the Ahura.” The first woman was illuminated, and Scheherazade took a double take. She hadn’t noticed it at first glance, but this woman had a third eye in the middle of her forehead. While the other two were closed, the third one was opened to reveal a grey iris. There was a pair of damselfly wings on each of her wrists and on both sides of her neck. Her hands were clasped as if in prayer, and her armour was more elaborate than the other four, studded with a few gemstones, as it were.

“Oh, I see the differences now,” said Scheherazade. She glanced at Matthew with a smile. “It’s always better to see them. I don’t know why.”

Matthew chuckled as he waved his hand over the pool and the image disappeared. “It’s fine. You have more of a writer’s mind than an artist’s, words come more readily to you than images.”

Scheherazade nodded. “True, thank you for showing me. But, why is it important that we know about . . . this?” she asked as she waved her hand over the pool.

“Those women are part of an order called the Zorostyas. Miriam will no doubt send them here if there are many problems. Though, most problems can be solved without needing to come here, including the worst problem.”

“The worst problem?”

Matthew sighed. “Yes, you’ll find out soon enough. Just keep the name Litharil in mind and let them know that my sister’s lamp will never fall into their hands.”

“Why would I have to tell them that? Why can’t you?” Matthew bit his lip. “Matthew, you said that since we are allies, you can tell us anything. Is there another reason for me needing to know all this?”

“Well, there’s . . . there’s a chance that the genies will leave Alixandria.”

Scheherazade glanced at him, searching for the truth. The two looked at each other for a few minutes before she spoke. “Is it really a chance, or is it a part of the future you’ve seen?” she whispered.

He sighed as he waved his hand over the pool again. The image that appeared this time was of a seven petaled flower, each petal a different color of the rainbow while the center looked brown.

“What a strange flower. Where is it from?”

“This is the rarest flower of all, found only on certain secluded areas on Islanra, the shevzel.”

Scheherazade glanced between Matthew and the flower. “Alright, so, why is it important?”

“It’s the symbol of our future,” Matthew whispered, “each petal represents something, I don’t know what just yet. But, I have a feeling I’m going to find out soon. Real soon.” He glanced at Scheherazade. “I’m going to leave Alixandria for a while . . .”

“What? You can’t! Not with Jason out to destroy you and your allies, and he’s growing his army!”

Matthew placed his hands on her shoulders. “I know. It will only be for a little while, I promise. There’s . . . I have to prepare myself, and the others. Destroying other genies is no easy feat.”

Scheherazade sighed. “I know, it’s just, the number of deaths keeps growing.”

Matthew closed his eyes tight as his face contorted with pain. “I know. But even more will die if I don’t do this right. Besides, I’m hoping a few of his genies will come over to our side.”

Scheherazade gasped. “Oh! I know!”

Matthew blinked in surprise before he raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Dunyazad has been approached by one of Jason’s genies. She said her name was Hannah.”

Matthew’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes . . . do you know her?”

“No, we’ve, we’ve never met. It would be nice to, though.”

“Well, how about this, I get Dunyazad to arrange a meeting between the two of us. Miss Hannah apparently wants to convince us to join Jason’s side. Then you come in and try to convince her to join our side.”

Matthew nodded slowly. “That sounds like a good idea. She won’t join our side immediately, though.”

“I’m not expecting an overnight change. We just need to plant the seeds for change.”

Matthew nodded. “Exactly. Well, I need to go. I have a lot of work to do. Oh, and before I forget.” He waved his hand, and a notebook appeared in it. He handed it to Scheherazade with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

“Oh, Matthew, thank you! I wish I had something to give you!”  

“Your friendship, allegiance, and unwavering faith in me is the best present I’ve received in a long time. I shall always treasure it.” He kissed her forehead. “And with the fofi as our allies, we have a chance to make things right.”

Scheherazade sighed. “I still wish I could do more.”

“For now, just be the queen your people need, and be ready for my return. This Hannah will no doubt tell Jason immediately after our little meeting of my return. But for now, don’t worry. If anything does happen, let Charlotte know, she’ll know how to contact me. And I’ll send word to you through her.”

Scheherazade blinked in surprise. “Your cousin? What about Gary, Phillip, Mark . . .”  She paused when he held up her hand.

“I’ve given them assignments off world. Charlotte is technically going to be the only one on my side here. Besides, Jason is more likely to leave her alone than the others. She is a green, after all, and is the best of us at blending in.”

Scheherazade sighed. “Very well. We shall be ready, and waiting, for your return.”

Matthew brought her hands to his lips. “Thank you, Scheherazade, for everything.”

She took her hand out of his and placed it on his face. “You know I’ll never stop . . .”

He smiled and whispered, “I know.” He took her hand from his face and kissed it again. “Goodbye Scheherazade, until next time.”

“Goodbye Matthew, be safe.”

“Always, but, it is going to be easier to be safe since I am going to worlds where no one can kill me, so there’s that,” he said with a grin and a wink.

Scheherazade laughed. “That’s true, but still, be careful. You are very important to all of existence.”

“Yeah, I know. One doesn’t think like that until one’s own species is in danger of extinction.”

“Oh Matthew,” she said with worry and sorrow hints in her tone.

“Well, I’m off to save it. Until next time, your majesty.” He bowed. He straightened up and gave her one final smile before vanishing into thin air. Scheherazade stood there for a little while longer, staring at the spot where he had stood. She sighed as her guards telepathically told her it was time to head home and prepare for a meeting with diplomats. She took one final glance at the spot and the pool before turning around and walking back, leaving the Black Forest in its unearthly silence once more.

(*Fofi are a human race that can shapeshift into spiders. There are currently only three kinds of spiders, the Joro spiders, the peacock spiders, and the St. Andrew’s Cross spiders. Each are associated with a certain human race based on the first fofi. Ananse and Aso are the parents of the St. Andrew’s Cross spiders, Arachne and Nareau are the parents of the peacock spiders, and Jorogumo and Iktomi are the parents of the Joro spiders.)